The One ‘Batman vs. Superman’ Scene That Was Even Too Dark For Zack Snyder

Whether you look at it as a positive or a negative, Batman v Superman was empirically a dark movie. Whether it was needlessly killing Jimmy Olsen or Batman wanting to stab Superman in the heart or all the other assorted murder going on, it was just a dark movie, and that’s what director Zack Snyder wanted. But even for him, there was one scene that was too dark and needed to be cut from the final film.

Snyder told IGN that Lex Luthor kidnapping Superman’s Earth mother and holding her captive Seven-style was OK, but it was Superman’s reaction to that, which was a little too much.

We had a scene that we cut from the movie where he tries to look for her when he finds out that Lex has got her. It was a slightly dark scene that we cut out because it sort of represented this dark side. Because when he was looking for his mom he heard all the cries of all the potential crimes going on in the city, you know when you look.

This whole movie represents a dark side! That’s where you draw the line, at Superman listening to all the crime going on in the city? That seems like a weird choice considering earlier in the film you had Jimmy Olsen assassinated without even giving him an identity. And had Batman straight up melting flesh. And Superman exploding two guys and then killing Batman in some weird prophecy dream.

Later in that same interview, Snyder defends Superman saying he can’t always answer everyone’s pleas for help all the time, because sometimes you just want to save your mom and not deal with people being raped or stabbed.

I kind of like the idea that he’s taught himself not to look because if he looks it’s just neverending, right? You have to know when, as Superman, when to intervene and when not to. Or not when not to, you can’t be everywhere at once, literally you can’t be everywhere at once, so he has to be really selective in a weird way about where he chooses to interfere.

Snyder didn’t confirm that scene would reappear on the upcoming R-rated “Ultimate Edition” that’s coming to DVD and Blu-ray this summer, but that seems like a likely bet.